


the boy on the street

by PidgeScarlet



Series: SBI Oneshots [2]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Child Abandonment, Child Neglect, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Mild Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-28
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:14:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28389120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PidgeScarlet/pseuds/PidgeScarlet
Summary: Phil doesn't know what to think when he finds a kid abandoned on the side of the road.Tubbo doesn't like strangers but Phil is the kindest person he's ever met, and he promised to help him find his mom.In which Phil takes in a freezing boy he found on the side of the street.
Relationships: Toby Smith | Tubbo & Phil Watson, Toby Smith | Tubbo & Wilbur Soot & Technoblade & TommyInnit & Phil Watson
Series: SBI Oneshots [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2079132
Comments: 15
Kudos: 328





	the boy on the street

A lone boy sat on the side of the street, hugging himself with his arms. He wore a battered shirt and pants, and only had a thin jacket to keep him warm. He sniffled every now and then and would raise an arm to wipe his nose. It was growing darker and colder and the poor boy had been sitting there for hours now.

The boy could feel tears forming in his eyes again. He had cried for ages when he was first told to sit here. Now, after waiting alone for so long, he felt the need to cry again. He rubbed at his eyes as he hiccupped, wishing that he wouldn’t have to be alone anymore.

In his distressed state he didn’t hear the sound of footsteps approaching him. 

“Hey kid.”

Jumping, the boy looked up at the man who stood above him. He kicked himself backwards trying to get away from him as quickly as possible. The man gave him a pitiful look as he crouched down to the boy’s eye level.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” the man said. The boy just gave him a fearful look and the man sighed. “What are you doing out here so late anyway?”

“My mum told me to sit here,” the boy said cautiously. “I’m waiting for her to come back.”

“How long ago did she leave you?” the man asked. The boy opened his mouth in response only to pause. It had been a long time since she had left him. Not long after they had eaten lunch together at some fast food restaurant, a rare thing for them, she had told him to sit here outside the park.

“I dunno,” the boy answered truthfully. He fiddled with his fingers as he felt the man watch him.

“Did she ever say she would be back?”

The boy opened his mouth, then paused when the horror of those words dawned on him. Usually when his mother told him to sit in a place for a while she said she would be back. Things were never easy for them. They would walk on the streets all day, taking the occasional bus places. His mother would work hard for money so they could have food to eat or sometimes even a motel to stay in.

But this was the first time his mother had forgotten to say: “I’ll be back.”

Tears formed in the boy’s eyes when he realized he might be alone forever.

“Hey hey hey,” the man said quickly, reaching out to rest a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “My name’s Phil. What’s yours?”

“T-To-Toby,” the boy said through hiccups. “Bu-but my- my mum ca-called me Tu-Tubbo.”

“Come on,” Phil said as he stood up. “I can take you home with me for now. We can find your mom later.”

He reached a hand out to the boy, Tubbo, who hesitantly took it. He knew better than to trust strangers on the streets, having dealt with them his whole life, but something about this man was different. He didn’t want something from Tubbo, he just wanted to help him instead.

It took the two a while to get out of the main city. They took a bus to the suburbs, a part of the city that Tubbo had never been to before. He always enjoyed night time bus rides, they were quiet and peaceful.

After a while the two finally arrived at the doorstep of a one-story suburban home. Tubbo rubbed at his eyes as he held Phil’s hand as they walked up to the front door. He couldn’t remember the last time he had been inside a house. There was a faint memory in the back of his mind but he was too tired to bother to remember it.

The house was by no means large. But it was homely and quaint. The lights were on inside and you could hear other people inside. This made Tubbo anxious and he nervously shook besides Phil who was busy unlocking the door. When the door swung upon there was a happy yell and Tubbo flinched backward. But Phil rested a hand on his shoulder and steered him inside. Immediately the voices came to a pause.

Three boys stared at Tubbo. One was very tall with curly brown hair. The other one stood beside the tall one, crossing his arms. Then the other, the smallest and youngest, stared at Tubbo with wide confused eyes. Tubbo shrinked away behind Phil, not used to the stares.

“This is Tubbo,” Phil explained. “He’s staying the night.”

“Why?” the youngest asked, his voice loud. The other two boys looked just as confused.

“He’s, uh, lost,” Phil said. “I’ll explain it to you later.” He eyed the older two boys, who seemed to know more than the younger about what was going on.

“Well, dinner’s ready if you want to take a seat Da,” the tallest said. Tubbo’s eyes perked up and he looked at Phil expectantly. Phil smiled down at them and soon enough the five of them were seated at the dinner table.

A plate of food was set in front of Tubbo. He hesitantly held the almost forgein eating utensil in his hand before he dove into his food, shoveling it into his mouth. The other boys and Phil stared at him in shock and slight amusement.

“Geez nerd, slow down before you choke,” the boy sitting next to him said. “When’s the last time you ate?”

Tubbo took another bite of his food, this time slower. “This afternoon,” he said. “Before that, I dunno.” He shrugged it off because it was normal for him. He didn’t notice the pitiful looks he was getting.

“Anyway Tubbo, these are my sons,” Phil said. “Next to you is Kevin, but he prefers to be called Techno. The tall one is Wilbur and then that leaves Tommy.”

Tubbo nodded and began to eat again.

“Why doesn’t he talk much?” Tommy asked as he stabbed at his food. “He’s no fun.”

Wilbur smacked him on his head lightly causing the younger boy to growl at him.

“Oh hush. When Dad first adopted you, you were quiet,” Wilbur said. “Leave the poor kid alone.”

Phil chuckled and the dinner table fell into a healthy conversation. Tubbo eventually reached a point where he couldn’t eat anymore so he sat there and watched everyone else.

“Tubbo, how old are you?” Tommy eventually asked the boy. Looking up from the napkin he was ripping apart, the boy did a count in his head.

“Uh, seven?” he said, unsure of himself. “Maybe eight? I don’t remember.”

“I’m seven!” Tommy shouted. Tubbo shrinked in his chair but smiled at the boy anyway.

“Okay Tommy, settle down,” Wilbur said. Techno snickered and Tubbo smiled happily as he continued to play with the napkin in his hands.

After dinner Tubbo sat in the living room while the older boys and Phil cleaned up the kitchen. Tommy asked him a lot of questions but he only responded to a few of them. Being in a house with people, a family of people, was so forgein and new to him. He faintly remembers having a home like this once, where he and his mother shared a room together. He remembered other people lived there as well, but he could barely remember them. He just remembered that they were older, much older than his mother.

His mother. He missed his mum. She used to be there for him. When he was younger she would carry him as they walked the city. She would find safe places for him to stay so she could go get food or money and would always come back. Then sometimes, they would sit together on buses or eat together in a restaurant or share a bed in a motel.

But this time she left him behind.

Tears formed in Tubbo’s eyes as he recalled all these memories. Tommy stopped mid-sentence to stare at the boy, thinking he did something wrong. When Tubbo started sobbing he ran up to go get Phil from the kitchen. Phil ran into the room and crouched down next to the sobbing boy.

“Tubbo, what’s wrong buddy?” Phil asked the boy. Behind him his sons stood awkwardly as they watched their dad comfort the boy.

“I- I wa-want my mum,” Tubbo sobbed out. He rubbed his eyes and his body shook. Phil took him into his arms and ran a hand up and down his back in a soothing pattern.

“We’ll go find her tomorrow Tubbo,” he said. “I promise.”

Phil helped Tubbo clean himself up after that. He let the boy take a bath himself and Tommy donated some of his clothes to the boy. They were a tad bit large on him but Tubbo liked them. It felt better to be in baggier clothing than clothing he was outgrowing and wearing out.

Then there was the debate on where Tubbo would sleep for the night. Wilbur offered up his bed to the boy but seemed reluctant to do so. Tubbo also didn’t want to share a room with Tommy. While the boy was nice he didn’t like all the questions he asked. He was also very loud and somewhat clingy.

Eventually Techno gave up his room for the boy, saying he would sleep on the couch. Everyone nodded in agreement and that was the end of the argument. Phil tucked Tubbo into bed and flicked off the lights, leaving the boy alone.

But Tubbo couldn’t sleep. He was so used to living on the streets that the bed and sounds of the suburbs were too forgein for him. Without the sounds of cars and music and people talking he couldn’t get to sleep. The silence, in his mind, was louder than actual noise.

So the boy crawled out of bed and snuck into the living room, out of curiosity. He wanted to spend some time looking out the window at the street, seeing that Techno’s room faced the backyard and the fence. To his surprise he found Techno awake, sitting on the couch with a book in hand and a single light on in the living room. The two stared at each other for a moment before Techno set his book down.

“What are you still doing up Tubbo?” he asked. The small boy shuffled over to him and sat on the end of the couch.

“I can’t sleep,” the boy said, his voice barely above a whisper. “It’s too quiet.”

“Want me to read to you?” Techno asked, leaning over to pick up his book, showing the cover to the boy. Tubbo tilted his head and nodded, crawling closer. Techno let the boy sit in his lap as he opened the book where he left off beginning to slowly read it aloud to the younger boy. Tubbo didn’t mind that he didn’t know what was going on in the story, he was just grateful the boy that he could lean into and the soothing voice he could listen too.

The next morning Phil was surprised to find his son holding the small boy in his lap, an arm dangling off the couch with a book on the floor, and the other one wrapped over him protectively. Phil smiled and went about his morning. He’d made a promise to Tubbo afterall.


End file.
